R. M. Rizzo ~Author

​THANK YOU FOR THE SHOES

Anniversary Edition

                            

"Thank You for the Shoes": Anniversary Edition won a Gold medal in the Florida Authors and Publishers Association (FAPA) 2026 annual Presidents awards and is a winner in the 2026 International Firebird awards.
     Richly detailed, a true story that reads like fiction. Based on the life of one man, Michelangelo Rizzo, it is an everyman story of an immigrant's journey to America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
     It illustrates the harsh realities of immigration, while demonstrating how grit and determination of spirit triumph in the end.
     Michelangelo (later Mike) was just a baby in Southern Italy when his father left his family in Italy to look for work. He died while working on a construction site in America. The poverty in Calabria ensured that he, too, would follow in his father's footsteps and in 1909, at age 13, he left his mountain home to travel alone to the "promised land".  Arriving in America, full of faith, hope, and courage, he would find poverty and struggle with a series of seemingly never-ending tragedies. Still, Mike embraces his new country and its many varied cultures. He would find love, happiness, and peace as he set about doing what all immigrants ultimately dream of: making a better life for himself, his children and future generations.
       One reader's Favorite five-star reviewer said, "Thank You for the Shoes is a poignant, beautiful, and at times extremely painful description of the life many immigrants face when they begin again in a new land. It is incredibly timely, especially given the current furor over immigration, to remind ourselves why people make that difficult decision. The author has done a marvelous job of exploring Mike's character and his journey."
     The character is an imperfect man who doesn't seek wealth, celebrity, power, or fame. Rather, he does many small things with great love. It was people like him and his fellow immigrants, who became the backbone of the United States. It is a reminder that we are a nation of immigrants participating in this great experiment in prosperity and freedom.    

 

###

​

     You can buy a hardcover or a paperback edition at a discount through these buttons

​

​​​​

 

It's also available in digital versions, as well as hard cover and paperback at: bookshop.org 

​

​

​

Also at it's available at Barnes & Noble; B&N, BAM, KOBO, Amazon and Indie bookstores near you.

​